Category: Blog

Since it was released, I’ve run and played a fair few games of Chris McDowall’s Into the Odd. It’s fast, simple, and the rules for character creation are probably my favourite out of any RPG. In fact, I’ve played enough games to warrant making an easy reference document merging the basic rules with some of my own ideas – namely what I use to quickly run games in my own setting.

Since Chris McDowall asked for it, here’s the PDF. Bear in mind it’s a little rough around the edges, as it was originally only meant for me. If you like the idea of a more developed version, let me know and I’ll work on it.

The giants were dead, victims of their own barbaric hungers. In time, the men of the northern mountains uncovered their legacy. They used their spells and relics to raise the dead, corrupt the living and bind the souls of free men. So began the reign of the Kang Admi, the first necromancers, whose very name is a byword for unspeakable sin.

The lady Mirka was the daughter of a mountain farmer, born into servitude during the heyday of the necromancer’s dread reign. It’s not known why their magic did not work on her. Strength of faith? Natural immunity? Or a skill, self taught and hard earned through years of oppression? Whatever the source, when she came of age she learned to share her power with her tribe. They became known as the first templars of Mirka, and with each victory, more of the undead were scourged from the land.

Though the thirteen-year campaign was a victory, the final cost was high. The necromancers had been destroyed, their relics and spells broken; but only a fraction of the original templars remained. Mirka herself was last seen leading her best warriors into battle, charging into the foul lair of the final necromancer. A day later, the entire lair collapsed upon itself. Not a soul emerged.

Mirka’s Grave

Though the region was searched for weeks, Mirka’s remains were never recovered. To this day, some believe she lived on; continuing her righteous crusade against the forces of evil. The truth of her disappearance is only revealed to templars who have completed their training; thus, it is the first task of the acolytes to travel the world in search of their saint.

I’d not heard of it before now, but I just bought it and read it off the back of this post (and that gorgeous cover.)

I liked it. I found it easy to read, and Van Oop and his pals sounded like they could cause a good amount of trouble in any campaign. I also liked the d100 dockside encounters table is getting printed to use in the future, LOTFP or not. I liked that it was at the start, after the ‘setting the scene’ text, so I read it at the same time as I was thinking about Amsterdam.

Personally, I like this kind of “themeing” for an adventure. A character-centric adventure feels more inspiring to me, because it’s a lot harder to invent a compelling antagonist off-the-cuff. (One of the things I love about Death Frost Doom is how the whole thing is ‘framed’ by meeting Zeke at the start. We’ve not even seen what’s within yet, but we can see what it’s done to poor old Zeke!)

I’m all for easter eggs, but my PDF reader (I don’t use Adobe) showed the hidden layers by default, I think – either that or there’s a hidden table or two I’ll never read. That’s a shame, but not such a shame I’m gonna muck about with file readers just to read them. Obviously if I didn’t know about the hidden stuff I’d be none the wiser, but still.

So this is off the back of last night’s Indiemeet, which was a very fun and productive meeting indeed. I talked a bit about several things related to design and layout, so I thought in the cold light of day I’d elaborate on those quickly.

Fonts:Google Fonts has a great selection of free fonts to use, BUT as Graham said don’t try to be clever. If in doubt stick to Garamond for most of your text, with a simple sans-serif font (maybe Arial or Century Gothic, for starters) for your page headings.

Digital Layout tools: You can download Scribus for free, but honestly, it’s not the best solution for DTP (desktop publishing). If you’re starting out, I’d stick with word (I know some of my favourite writers use word) or grab a free trial of Indesign and see how you go. At the end of the day, life’s too short, and you’ve got games to write.

Me! So I’m always available if you want to chat. You can email me (there’s a quick link at the bottom of the page) or message me on Google Plus. If you’d like to support my stuff (and get a cheeky insight into how I do things!) You can support me creating adventure PDFs on Patreon. I’d certainly be happy to run a workshop or similar in the future, times and everything else permitting – if you’re interested in organising that or collaborating, let me know.

And here’s the last PDF of 2014 – and a map!

I’ve had this under construction for a while – it’s a ‘culture guide’ designed to add a little flavour to your characters. I’ve also included ideas for a few people and places from each location, to help spark some new adventures when you need it!

(I’ve done some playtesting, but as always feedback is useful and will go into any future re-releases.)

So there you go – a great combination to use with the map last release, and a fun way to end the year. And what a year it’s been! Thank you again for all your support, hope you enjoy, and see you in 2015!

The temple is miles from the coast, yet the walls are covered with seaweed and coral. The sigil lies untouched on the altar, just like the old man said, at the far end of the temple. Between you and it, the floor is flooded ankle-deep with seawater. In places, the water is somehow flowing upwards – it’s already formed a swirling whirlpool on the ceiling…

Dios Via is an island town hidden on an atoll in the Tyranean sea. It’s people are the inbred descendents of the island’s original inhabitants and generations of roving sailors who landed here by chance. But beyond it lies an ancient portal to the elemental plane of water – and someone on the other side wants to get through!